Foran football enjoys time off with winning streak

Updated 9:34 pm, Thursday, October 25, 2012

After two weeks, it could have been easy for the Foran High football team to already start thinking about next season.

The Lions walked off the field at Shelton High after suffering a disappointing 31-8 loss to their SCC foe. The setback was more difficult to handle coming off a 55-34 opening-day loss to Hillhouse.

It was far from the beginning the red and blue had hoped for all off-season, especially after looking to build on a 3-7 year when it allowed 373 points. A promising group of young players would have to learn quickly as the season was beginning to unravel before it seemed to even begin.

"It was tough for us after that (Shelton) loss," said Foran captain Nick Weissauer, a starting wide receiver/cornerback. "We knew we had to pick ourselves back up and the coaches did a great job getting us back up. We believed in ourselves."

The Lions found a way to bounce back with a 26-7 road win against Sheehan. And after another impressive road win over East Haven, the Lions' confidence was quickly starting to take shape.

The long walk off the field at Shelton seemed like a distant memory, and it showed when the Lions returned home to Milford to dismantle Lyman Hall 51-12 and then Notre Dame-West Haven 50-35 last week.

"We just started clicking with the Sheehan game," Weissauer said. "It's been awesome. Every day at practice, there's a lot of energy and we are working hard."

The determined Lions (4-2) have now won four straight games, and their reward was an off week before playing host to SCC Division II East rival North Haven on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.

The Lions enjoyed a Monday and Tuesday off this week before returning for a joint practice with Notre Dame of Fairfield on Wednesday.

"It's good and bad," coach Jeff Bevino said of the week off. "You would like to keep playing when things are going well, but this gives us some time to lick our wounds after a tough game against Notre Dame-West Haven."

Bevino knew before the season that the Lions would be good at some point this season, but had no idea when a young roster would come together on the field.

"All the credit has to go to the kids," Bevino said. "The kids were upset with themselves after the Shelton game. We knew we had a lot of work to do. It has come together a lot quicker.

"I can't believe it. It's fun going to practice and these kids have been taking in everything we teach them."

One of the players soaking in all the knowledge has been sophomore quarterback Jake Kasuba. In last week's victory, Kasuba completed 20 of 28 passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns. He threw touchdown passes of 53 yards to Sean Deegan and 14 to Weissauer. Kasuba, who is listed at 5-foot-9 and 150 pounds, also rushed for 65 yards in the Lions' spread offense.

"The best way to describe him is unflappable," Bevino said of Kasuba. "He goes out there and plays his game. I've never seen a kid pick up our offense the way he has. He gets better every week. He's seeing things that normally takes quarterbacks two or three years to pick up."

For the season, Kasuba has connected on 98 of 142 passes for 1,388 yards with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Senior fullback Nick Derosa has been the most consistent weapon for the Lions with 714 rushing yards and a team-leading six touchdowns.

"Our offensive line has been playing great and Nick runs hard," Weissauer said.

One of the other big changes from previous seasons is that only two players are starting on both sides of the ball. Weissauer and Hubler are the only two-way players.

"It's made a big difference," Weissauer said of having most players focusing on one side of the ball. "It's a lot easier. When we played Sheehan, we could see them getting tired late in the game. We had fresh guys in the second half."